65 young leaders from credit unions across Manitoba gathered at Stride Place, Portage la Prairie on Thursday, September 21 for CUYLM’s 2023 think tank. This event concluded our four-part series on Exploring Generational Dynamics in the Credit Union System.

In three webinars leading up to this event, participants learned about generational dynamics and characteristics, including commonalities and differences within generational demographics, how different generations of co-workers approach work and career, the dynamics among our members and their life stage needs, and more.

The aim of the think tank was to discuss what we’ve learned through the webinar series and how we can apply these learnings to attraction and retention strategies for staff and members.

Participants split into groups that were each given a unique case study to consider, and the groups brainstormed actionable strategies and solutions we could implement today. The case studies sparked many thought-provoking discussions and questions and challenged young leaders to think about how we can drive change within our own credit unions. The groups then each presented their solutions and insights to the other participants.

Following the event, the CUYLM Executive Committee compiled key insights and takeaways into a summary document that we distributed to all participants. We encourage young leaders to share and discuss these takeaways within their credit unions. For more information about the summary document, please contact us.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this series. We hope you found it as informative as we did! 

Join us for a four-part series where we explore generational differences in the credit union system and how they influence your success as a young leader.

In the first two parts of the series, you’ll learn, understand, and discuss:

• Commonalities and differences within generational demographics

• How different generations of co-workers approach work and career

• The dynamics among our members and their life stage needs

• Building buy-in to the co-operative values and the overall value of credit union membership within these different demographics

In the third part of the series, four leaders from the Manitoban credit union system will discuss how they have navigated the various generations as they were building their careers, what has stayed the same (and what hasn’t), and what stereotypes they overcame early in their career.

We’re pleased to welcome the following credit union system leaders to our panel:

Leanna Beasant, Chief Financial & People Officer, Access Credit Union

Leanna has worked for a number of Manitoba credit unions since 2009 in different roles including Chief Financial Officer and subsequently Chief Executive Officer of Oakbank Credit Union. Prior to the merger with Access, Leanna was responsible for overseeing finance, HR, compliance, internal audit, and facilities at Sunova Credit Union.

Leanne DeVliegere, Chief Operations Officer, Fusion Credit Union

Leanne, Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Fusion Credit Union, has been in the credit union system for more than 20 years.  In her current role, she leads teams in HR, Lending Solutions, Marketing & Communications, and Member Service.  A strong advocate for lifelong learning, Leanne is a graduate of Assiniboine Community College’s Business Administration and Management program, and completed her MBA in 2019. Leanne was an early member of CUYLM alum, having served on the committee mid-way through her career.

Glenn Friesen, Chief Executive Officer, Steinbach Credit Union

Glenn Friesen has been with Steinbach Credit Union as Chief Executive Officer since January of 1997. Under his leadership, SCU has grown organically from $700 million to over $9 billion in assets. Glenn has served on LCUC since 1999 and holds the title of longest sitting member.

Brent Budz, Chief Executive Officer, Stride Credit Union

Brent has been a part of the credit union system since 2004, starting his career as a Senior Account Manager, then occupying a variety of positions like Assistant General Manager and Chief Operations Officer. Brent was named CEO of Austin Credit Union in 2015 and was named the CEO of Stride Credit Union in 2017 after successfully leading Austin Credit Union into a merger with Portage Credit Union.

We’ll wrap up with an in-person Think Tank where we’ll discuss in groups what we’ve learned through the webinar series and how we can apply these learnings to attraction and retention strategies for staff and members.

Schedule:

• May 17, 11AM - 12PM - Virtual Webinar - Team Member Demographics (Led by Homefield People & Strategy Consulting)

• June 21, 11AM - 12PM - Virtual Webinar - Member Demographics (Led by Homefield People & Strategy Consulting)

• August 16, 11AM - 12PM - Virtual Webinar - Facilitated Leadership Panel (Led by Homefield People & Strategy Consulting

• September 21, 10AM - 3PM - In-Person Event, Stride Place, Portage la Prairie - Think Tank & Networking Event, Lunch Included

Can't make it to one of the webinars? Not to worry; the sessions will be recorded and copies will be provided by request to confirmed registrants.

Registration:

Cost of registration for entire series: $75

Registration closes: May 10, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.

How to register: This series is for young leaders in the Manitoba credit union system. Login to CUCommunity to register (you will find this event featured on homepage). Or, contact us for information (see our contact info below).

Questions & Support:

Please contact us.

The Big Idea Challenge was created to engage young leaders in the Manitoba Credit Union System and give them the opportunity to brainstorm creative solutions to some of the challenges facing the Credit Union System today.

In groups of three or less, Young Leaders were invited to take on one of the following topics and present their ideas to contest judges:

• If there was a credit union ambassador created for Manitoba Credit Unions what would that look like? How would this benefit all credit unions and their members? What would be the role of the ambassador

• What makes credit unions different from other financial institutions? How can we promote who we are and what we do to current members and potential members?

• What is your big idea? This can be to increase membership in the credit union system, educate our members, promote the cooperative principles, etc.

The eight entries from Young Leaders were reviewed by a panel of five CU Leaders in the Manitoba Credit Union System, including a Young Leader, Branch Manager, Senior Leader, CUCM Representative and a Board Member.

The winning team consisted of Joty Bath, James Grosskopf and Rachel Tripp, from Westoba Credit Union, whose team brainstormed ideas around “How can we attract and retain millennial membership in the Credit Union System?”.

The winners received conference registrations for CU NextGen 2017 in Halifax, NS in May, where they had the opportunity to work and connect with the brightest young minds in the Canadian credit union system!

Congrats to the winning team, and thank you to all participants of the Big Idea Challenge!

The 2014 CUYLM Think Tank took place at Portage Credit Union Centre on June 11, and drew 67 young leaders from credit unions throughout Manitoba.

The objective of the Think Tank was to provide our Manitoba young leaders with an opportunity to learn from their peers, increase awareness of the ‘big picture’ credit union system, and to gather information during group discussions.

In the think tank portion of the event, participants broke into small groups and were given two hours to brainstorm and discuss ideas around six questions about the future of the credit union system and the role of young leaders in it, with self development as a key objective. Some of the questions the young leaders considered were “what do you think the Manitoba credit union system will look like in five years? 10? 20?”, and “how, as young leaders, can we add value to our teams, our credit unions, and the Manitoba system?”

Attendees were also given the opportunity to participate in a “human library” mentoring session, where they could spend time with 14 mentors and leaders in the system to ask questions and share ideas.

Twelve young leaders were also paired with members of the CUYLM Executive Committee to continue the conversation after the event, and help with their career and personal development.

The post-event survey indicated that participants really enjoyed their time at the think tank and saw great value in connecting with other young leaders facing the same challenges, and many expressed interest in participating in a similar event annual or semi-annually.

Participants generated many great ideas to take back to their credit unions, and were challenged to share what they had learned with a minimum of 3 people they work with.

“I met some great people and re-connected with ones I met at the (CUYLM) conference in Winnipeg. It’s very important to have an ‘it’s up to me’ attitude as a young leader. We are the future of our credit unions and the system. It’s taking these ideas that were presented and putting them into action. I plan to work with my manager and my team to build out action plans for the future s othat we have a clear goal in mind.” - Think Tank Participant